tip on tone and set up

kungfumonk007 · March 2016

I made a video, but I'll summarize:
I've had very bad luck taking my guitar to traditional guitar experts, even real good ones. They just don't 'get' these guitars, and never do a very good job, but I never knew enough why, or what needed to be done specifically in the set up of these guitars. This time I took my guitar to a violin maker friend of mine because I just needed a shim, and he actually noticed right away that the bride on one side was riding the front edge instead of making perfect contact between bridge and body. He fixed it and there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in the tone. So my recommendation - take your guitar to a bowed instrument specialist, and have them ensure best contact between bridge and body!

guitarua · March 2016

oh man, in the part where you named the colorado violin shop, the volume drops!

Bones · March 2016

Hey Aaron, any good guitar tech should be able to fit a floating bridge. A Selmac bridge is only slightly different than an archtop guitar bridge and the method to get a perfect contact is the same.

Also be sure you don't tweak/tilt the bridge slightly when you are changing strings.

Buco · March 2016

Good bridge contact is one of the crucial things.
Other one is a good fretwork.
My guitar started breathing a lot freer after a local master of fretwork, Geoff Benge, did his magic.
He actually admitted he didn't do a lot of fitting of these types of bridges so I just do that myself as it's not hard, just takes some time and care.
But with perfect frets your instrument can sing a whole lot better.
When I say that, you might think your frets are fine. I thought mine were just fine. There was a single spot on a guitar where I was getting some faint buzz. But when he took a look at them he shook his head and said they needed work.
Said that best luthiers out there suck at fretwork

)
Sure enough he was right, with the part that it needed work, the rest is just his opinion.
So let someone trained and trustworthy take a look and decide for you.

Russell Letson · March 2016

I would think that by definition the "best luthiers" would be as competent at fretwork as at other aspects of setup. Bridge-fit and frets were things I was taught about as soon as I had an archtop that needed some restorative work. But then, I've had the good fortune to spend a lot of time with some absolutely first-rate luthiers/restoration workers over the last few decades.

Jazzaferri · March 2016

The trouble with trying to bridge fit a GJ guitar is the top has a different shape under tension than when not.

What I would be curious to know is if the bridge foot contact AREA affects tone.

Maybe big feet are not the way to go. Cello has less contact area than most guitars I have seen

Maestro @Bob Holo ....any thoughts

kungfumonk007 · April 2016

What constitutes good/bad frets? I play my guitars ALOT, and the frets are worn down and have flat spots.

kungfumonk007 · April 2016

The video/audio were all messed up, the video dropped frames or something because it would NOT sync with the audio no matter what I did. Really annoying but not important enough to re-record. Mi Vida Strings.

Buco · April 2016

kungfumonk007 wrote: »

What constitutes good/bad frets? I play my guitars ALOT, and the frets are worn down and have flat spots.

At the very least you need a fret recrown then.

guitarua · April 2016

Buco wrote: »

kungfumonk007 wrote: »

What constitutes good/bad frets? I play my guitars ALOT, and the frets are worn down and have flat spots.

At the very least you need a fret recrown then.

Agreed. Flat spots on the frets will cause intonation issues and buzz, eventually. Whenever I've had a fret dress, or a refret, the guitar is noticeably more in tune and even across the range of notes.